The official blog of Writer Beware® shines a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls. Also providing advice for writers, industry news, and commentary. Writer Beware® is sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.
Okay, folks, here’s my next “Exploding Myth” post. Today the myth I’m torpedoing is probably the one most commonly passed around among aspiring authors. It basically goes something like this: “There’s no point submitting your book to a big publishing house, unless you are a celebrity, or your have an “in.” To get published byRead More
Today I saw yet another comment on a writers’ message board comparing the process of finding publication to a crapshoot. The odds are stacked against new writers. There are so many people trying to sell a book, and so few publishing slots, that you’ve got a better chance of getting struck by lightning than youRead More
A quick addendum to my previous post about “Why I Can’t Sell Your Book…” The first and foremost line of excuse for any scammer is usually the poor, oft-blamed, and benighted US Postal Service. My husband, a retired postal worker, and s.f. writer, reminded me that I left this one out. I’ve seen emails fromRead More
Preditors & Editors’ Dave Kuzminski points out that Part 3 of Madison County Record’s series on Lisa Hackney, currently calling herself (again) Melanie Mills, is online (thanks, Dave!). Some choice excerpts: Her success as a writer/publicist while on the lam ironically led to her capture. !!!!! There’s some irony there, all right. “I wasn’t goingRead More
Victoria’s posts about the wacky and woebegone world (like that alliteration, boys and girls?) of Melanie Mills reminded me of all the crazy excuses we’ve come across during our years of tracking scam agents. Some of these excuses are downright creative, yessiree bob! If only those scheming little minds could be turned to good… ExcuseRead More
Serial liar, scam literary agent, amnesia faker, and alleged mother-squasher Lisa Hackney (who in yet another alias switcheroo, now appears to again be calling herself Melanie Mills) embellishes her imaginary life in this interview in the Madison County Record. A few heart-wrenching quotes:
“I’d never had anything like this happen to me before,” Mills said. “This involved my Mom. I allowed my emotions to control my intelligence. I didn’t have any intelligence at the time. I allowed my emotions to rule my actions. I didn’t want to deal with the pain.”
Oh, man. I'm bawlin' here.
Mills said being on the run and hiding out, not being able to befriend many people, was a complete change from her normal personality.
